Guy Fawkes 
As we edge closer to the holiday season, the crypto market is once again painting the charts red: a pattern many traders have come to recognize in recent years. On December 15,
Bitcoin
0.12%
Bitcoin
BTC
Price
$85,856.96
0.12% /24h
Volume in 24h
$41.28B
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Price 7d
is sliding below the $90,000 mark, and here we try to answer the classic question: “why crypto is down today.” The retreat reflects a familiar year-end dynamic: thinning liquidity, traders booking profits after 2025’s strong rallies, and slower participation as markets gear up for the holidays.
Ethereum
4.22%
Ethereum
ETH
Price
$2,942.95
4.22% /24h
Volume in 24h
$23.43B
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Price 7d
has fared slightly better around $3,154, but most altcoins are still tagging along behind Bitcoin’s drop. Macro pressure, including risk-off sentiment in equities and shifting interest rate expectations, is amplifying the slide, while leveraged positions are being unwound in a market that’s increasingly sensitive to broader financial conditions.
Looking back at holiday periods in past years, crypto markets have often shown thin trading volumes and elevated volatility around late December, as many investors step back and wait for fresh catalysts in the new year. That can make price moves feel more exaggerated, both up and down, than during busier months.
Historically, Bitcoin has bounced around this time of year before finding renewed momentum once liquidity returns.
DISCOVER: The 12+ Hottest Crypto Presales to Buy Right Now
Why Is Crypto Down Today? Bitcoin Hashrate Decline
Bitcoin has dipped below $90,000 amid year-end profit-taking and thinner trading volumes that make price moves larger. Institutional outflows from ETFs continue, adding pressure. Uncertainty ahead of Federal Reserve decisions, with lower chances for further rate cuts soon, contributes to the cautious tone. Altcoins like Solana and Cardano show bigger daily drops, while the total market cap stays near $3 trillion.
Bitcoin’s network hashrate dropped 17.25% in the past week to 988.49 EH/s, based on F2pool data reported earlier this month. This change points to possible adjustments in mining due to profitability or costs.
According to @punk8185, the total network hashrate dropped by approximately 100 EH/s yesterday, a decrease of about 8%, with at least 400,000 Bitcoin mining rigs shutting down, mainly due to the closure of Bitcoin mining farms in Xinjiang, China. The specific reasons for the… https://t.co/u92YaLYJcV
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) December 15, 2025
Meanwhile, the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) maintains steady use, with over 2.4 million daily active users recently and zero-fee stablecoin transfers extended until December 31. As Christmas nears, holiday patterns and year-end tax moves could bring more price changes across the market.
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Standout Gainers in the Market: What Is BEAT?
Some tokens post gains despite the overall dip. Audiera BEAT leads with a 64% increase to $2.75. Other performers include Four (FORM) up 18.7% to $0.3384, MYX Finance (MYX) up 13.9% to $3.53, Rain (RAIN) up 8.06% to $0.008031, ChainOpera AI (COAI) up 6.43% to $0.5490, and 币安人生 up 5.79% to $0.1259.
BEAT powers the Audiera platform, a Web3 version of the classic Audition dance game with over 600 million past users. It combines AI agents, NFTs, music creation, and dance gameplay on BNB Chain. Players earn rewards through challenges, mint assets, and interact in a metaverse setting. Recent gains reflect interest in entertainment and GameFi projects.
$BEAT first liquidated all the short, then liquidated all the long, then again liquidated all the short
We saw the same pattern in $PIPPIN
pic.twitter.com/6XvqsWV0EX
— Lumeo Lab (@LumeoLab) December 12, 2025
Macro conditions, including Fed policy effects on risk assets and correlations with tech stocks, influence prices.
Stay tuned for the latest crypto news.
Token Unlocks Rock SEI Crypto and STRK Price: Hottest Crypto to Buy This Week?
As the crypto market navigates the final weeks of 2025 and the upcoming Christmas holidays, token unlocks have delivered a setback to established projects, such as SEI crypto and STRK coin, with both experiencing notable price declines over the past seven days.
Sei
2.16%
Sei
SEI
Price
$0.1171
2.16% /24h
Volume in 24h
$53.31M
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has fallen more than -15%, now trading at $0.1244, while
Starknet
29.91%
Starknet
STRK
Price
$0.0962
29.91% /24h
Volume in 24h
$60.88M
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is down -11% at $0.1029. Yet, amid this pressure, the hottest crypto to buy this week emerges from the presale arena: MAXI DOGE.
This always happens in December. New year is coming and the crypto market volume is dead. Liquidity is thin and most traders are on vacation. During this time scam tokens pump randomly.
— ERROR (@ER404i) December 15, 2025
With thinner liquidity typical of the holiday season and year-end, presales offer a compelling entry point for investors seeking fresh momentum.
Real Crypto Is Back in Business: Monero Crypto Targets Generational 7-Year XMR Price Breakout
The most interesting chart in crypto right now is BTC/XMR, which paints an entirely different market outlook than those paired against USD-backed stablecoins, which are all struggling as we head toward the year-end close. On the flip side, Monero is showing that real crypto may be staging a comeback, as the leading privacy token is up more than +120% against Bitcoin in 2025.
Monero has been in and out of crypto news over the last few years, primarily due to crackdowns on privacy tokens, which have led to its delisting from multiple centralized exchanges. Across Europe, many exchanges, including Kraken, have removed XMR for trading, while Binance and Coinbase have removed it in every market.
XMR has benefited from the increased attention on the crypto privacy sector in 2025, as Zcash (ZEC) has made waves, surging +610% this year. It is up for debate which of ZEC
Zcash
1.01%
Zcash
ZEC
Price
$396.26
1.01% /24h
Volume in 24h
$1.06B
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Price 7d
or XMR offers better technology and stronger privacy. Still, both projects and the broader privacy space have benefited significantly from the uptick in attention.
Willy Woo Says Satoshi Poses No Threat: Is Bitcoin Hyper L2 The Smart Money Play for 2026?
As Bitcoin (BTC) continues to mature into a global macro asset, hyper-recurring fears that quantum computers could crack early wallets, including Satoshi’s Bitcoin holdings, resurface. This week, on-chain analyst Willy Woo dismissed those concerns, arguing that even a worst-case scenario would not threaten Bitcoin’s survival.
Against that backdrop, investors are increasingly looking beyond native Bitcoin alone and asking whether scalable Bitcoin Layer-2s like Bitcoin Hyper could be the more brilliant asymmetric play heading into 2026.
JPMorgan Expands Into Crypto With Tokenized Fund
JPMorgan is launching its first tokenized money-market fund on the Ethereum blockchain, seeding it with $100 million for qualified investors. The My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY) issues digital tokens representing fund shares, aiming to speed up settlement, reduce costs, and meet growing institutional demand for blockchain-based investment products.
Is SOL USD Preparing for a Breakout as Solana Price Holds Above Key Support?
Solana price is still trading in a narrow band above the $120–$130 support area. The market has held this range for several sessions, and analysts are watching to see whether the next move will break the pattern or extend the pause that followed its broader 2025 pullback.
After falling from its 2025 highs, SOL slipped into a tight structure that has barely changed.
Traders now want to know if this zone will become a base for recovery or if it’s simply another stretch of sideways movement inside a larger correction.
The recent drop brought the price back into the $125–$130 region. Instead of breaking lower, this area has acted as a balance point.
SOL isn’t testing the deeper end of its support anymore, but it isn’t abandoning it either.
The chart still signals consolidation, not a clear shift in trend.
DISCOVER: Top Solana Meme Coins to Buy in 2025
Bank of Japan Prepares Gradual Exit From ETF Holdings
According to Bloomberg, the Bank of Japan is expected to begin selling its massive exchange-traded fund holdings as early as next month, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The unwind is designed to be extremely gradual, potentially stretching over several decades, to avoid disrupting financial markets. Officials agreed at a September policy meeting to sell ETFs at a steady pace of about ¥330 billion per year based on book value.
As of late September, the central bank’s ETF portfolio was valued at ¥83 trillion in market terms, with a book value of ¥37.1 trillion. Sales could be paused if a major crisis emerges.
The post Crypto News Today, December 15 – Why Is Crypto Down Today? Bitcoin Below $90K, Hashrate Drop, Ethereum Holds, Top Gainers Including BEAT appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
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